1.  Definitions and Applicability
1.1 The following definitions shall apply in these Conditions:
Article means each article submitted to Frontiers for publication, as may be amended, adapted and/or modified in any way.

Author means the author or any or all authors of an Article.

Fees means any fees or other payments payable by the Author in respect of the review and/or publication of an Article.

Frontiers means Frontiers Research Foundation, a Swiss foundation, for the review process, and Frontiers Media SA, a Swiss corporation, for publication and copyright questions.

The Journal means the journal, published by Frontiers, in which the Article will be published (if Frontiers agrees to publish the Article). A Journal may be online only, hardcopy only or both hardcopy and online, and may be a Theme Edition.

Parties means Frontiers and the Author.

Rules means all Frontiers manuals, operating procedures and other rules, regulations and documents posted on the Website, as amended from time to time.

Theme Edition means the special themed journal edition for publication in which the Article is submitted.

Unacceptable Forum means any journal or other forum promoting racist or extremist views, hatred and/or violence.

Website means the Frontiers website (www.frontiersin.org).

1.2 These Conditions, together with all Rules, which are agreed to be incorporated into these Conditions by this reference, constitute the entire agreement between Frontiers and the Author concerning the Article. No other agreement, promise, term or condition applies between the parties concerning the Article unless explicitly and validly accepted by both parties in writing or via click-through on the Website.

2.  Application of these Conditions
2.1 1.By submitting any article or other material to Frontiers for publication the Author (1) accepts that these Conditions (including the Rules) apply to the exclusion of all other conditions unless specifically accepted in writing by Frontiers, and (2) undertakes to comply with all Rules.
2.2 By submitting an article or other material to Frontiers which has been created jointly by two or more co-authors, the person accepting these Conditions by submitting an Article for publication, via click-through or any other method warrants that (s)he has been empowered to act in the names of any co-authors who do not themselves actively or personally indicate their acceptance of these Conditions.

3.  The Article; Decision to Publish
3.1 The decision as to publication of the Article shall be at Frontiers’ entire discretion.
3.2 Subject to successful completion of the review process the Article will be published in the relevant Journal. The Author acknowledges that Frontiers may restrict access to an online version of the Journal to those who have subscribed to a hard copy version. Publication by Frontiers of the Article is subject to timely fulfilment by the Author of all his/her/their obligations under these Conditions (including the Rules).
3.3 Unless and until Frontiers notifies the Author that the Article will not be published by Frontiers, the Author undertakes not to submit the Article, or any article substantially reproducing or repeating the themes and arguments of the Article, for publication to any other journal or publisher. This shall not prevent the author from issuing abstracts to conferences in accordance with usual academic practice. Following the date of first publication by Frontiers of the complete Article, the Author may copy and distribute, for non-commercial purposes only, the text of the Article, including any graphics or images provided by the Author but excluding any graphics or images provided by Frontiers, and may copy or distribute for non-commercial purposes any abstract or précis of the Article in any other journal or forum he/she/they choose(s), other than in an Unacceptable Forum if the Article has been published by Frontiers. All copies of the Article, and any précis or abstract of the Article, following a first publication by Frontiers must clearly and prominently state that first publication was in the relevant Journal. The Author agrees to impose this condition on any person to whom or which he/she/they distribute the Article or any précis or abstract.
3.4 No images or graphics provided by or through Frontiers may be copied or published elsewhere without the specific written consent of Frontiers. The Author shall be liable (jointly and severally where the Author consists of more than one person) to Frontiers for any damage or liability suffered by Frontiers as a result of any unauthorised copying or publication of graphics or images.

4.  Fees and Payment
4.1 The Author agrees to pay any applicable Fees and any other applicable payments in accordance with the Rules or as otherwise communicated by Frontiers.
4.2 Frontiers may delay or cancel publication of an Article if payment of the Fee is delayed. Any delay in such circumstances shall not release the Author from the restrictions on dissemination and publication provided for in these conditions. If Frontiers cancels the publication, the Author shall become liable for full Fees if he/she/they publish(es) or permit(s) publication of any version of the Article which uses or benefits from any improvements or modifications of the Article resulting from the Frontiers review process.
4.3 Upon successful finalisation of the review process the Author will be notified that the Article is ready for publication, and any Fees payable at that point shall become payable. If Frontiers, in its discretion, decides to publish the Article prior to payment of all or any part of any applicable Fees, that fact shall not relieve the Author of his/her/their obligation to pay the Fees.
4.4 If, following a successful end to the review process, the Author having been notified that the Article is ready for publication and having paid the Publication Fee, Frontiers fails to publish the Article within a reasonable period without providing any objective and reasonable justification, it shall refund the Fee. Such refund shall represent the entire obligation of Frontiers in respect of such failure to publish. No other or further amounts shall be due from Frontiers or any entity connected with Frontiers in connection with any failure to publish.
4.5 The current Fees applicable to the submission and publication of the Article are published by Frontiers and are subject to change periodically.
4.6 Unless otherwise specifically agreed by Frontiers, any applicable Fees cover only the review and publication of the Article. Any other services, including copy editing, raw data examples, deposition of raw data into databases, visualisations of the results of the Article, translations and any other services, are subject to further charges in accordance with Frontiers’ usual charges for such services as amended from time to time.

5  Intellectual Property Rights; Grant of Licence to Frontiers
5.1 By submitting the Article to Frontiers, the Author grants to Frontiers a free, exclusive, paid up, irrevocable worldwide licence over the Author’s copyright and all other relevant rights of the Author in the Article, including the right to publish in any format and in or on any medium, republish and/or reproduce any number of times, commercialise, receive income in respect of the Article, archive, modify, copy, adapt, merge, translate, summarise, introduce hyperlinks in the Article, sublicense and/or diffuse the Article or in whole or in part and/or to take any other action in respect of an Article which a publisher acting in good faith may wish to take. These rights are (subject to the other provisions of these Conditions) granted to Frontiers for the whole duration of the Author’s own copyright.
5.2 By submitting the Article to Frontiers, the Author undertakes not to grant any rights over the Article or any part of its contents to any other person, and not to submit the Article for publication or review to any other person, enterprise or organisation, for the entire period of Frontiers’ licence.
5.3 By submitting the Article to Frontiers, the Author grants to visitors to the Website (subject only to any access restrictions imposed by Frontiers) a free worldwide licence under the Author’s copyright and under all other rights of the Author in the Article, but only for the purposes of private study or research, to download, copy, use and archive the Article (excluding images and/or graphics provided by Frontiers or any third party unless specific written permission has been given), subject to such users indicating with reasonable prominence, when using, reproducing or referring to the article, the name(s) of the Author and a statement that it first appeared in the Journal, plus a copyright statement as directed by Frontiers. These rights are (subject to the other provisions of these Conditions) granted to such visitors for the whole duration of the Author’s own copyright and are irrevocable provided the above conditions are complied with by such visitors.
5.4 Upon written notification by Frontiers to the Author of definitive rejection of the Article for publication, Frontiers’ licence over the Article shall automatically terminate and Frontiers shall have no further rights in any respect over the Article.
5.5 As of the date of first publication by Frontiers on its website of the Article, and subject to the other provisions of these Conditions (including the Rules), the Author may copy and distribute the Article (excluding any images and/or graphics provided by Frontiers and/or any third party unless specific permission has been given) for non-commercial purposes only. The Author may not, and may not permit others to, publish or re-publish the Article or submit the Article for publication to any other publisher, journal or forum. The Author may not reproduce or permit to be reproduced in any manner any images or graphics supplied by a third party without express, specific written authorisation of Frontiers. Any authorised copy or publication of the Article or any reference to the Article or its contents must be accompanied by a clear and prominent acknowledgement that the Article was first published in the Journal.
5.6 Frontiers may grant sublicences and/or assign its licence in the Article and its contents to its licensees and subcontractors engaged in any aspect of the management or production of the Journal and/or the Website and/or of any other aspect of Frontiers’ business or activity.

6.  Warranties of the Author
6.1 The author hereby warrants and represents to Frontiers as follows:

- the information given to Frontiers via the registration process concerning the Author (and all persons constituting the Author) is accurate, complete, up to date and not misleading.
- the Article is entirely his/her/their original work, with all references and sources appropriately and adequately acknowledged and all necessary customary permissions and authorisations obtained in writing prior to first submission of the Article for reviewing and editing.
- no person other than the Author has contributed to the Article in any way which would, customarily or otherwise, entitle such person to be named as author or co-author or, if other persons have contributed to the Article, each co-author has empowered the Author to act on his/her behalf.
- the Author has the entire and unconditional right to deal in the intellectual property rights in the Article in the manner required by these Conditions.
- in respect of any images, graphics or other content sourced by the Author from a third party, the Author has obtained a licence or permission from that third party sufficient for Frontiers to publish the Article as envisaged by these Conditions and the Rules.
- all statements, results and other contents have been verified in accordance with the highest generally accepted scientific or other relevant standards in the relevant subject domain.
- the Article has not been published in any other journal and is not currently under consideration by any other journal. If published by Frontiers, such publication will be the first publication.
- the Article contains no defamatory material or statement, no racist or extremist political message and does not incite discrimination, hatred or violence, and does not support any grouping or party which espouses such views, and the Author will not permit the Article or any extract to be used for any such purpose.
- the Author has disclosed in writing to Frontiers any other relevant fact or information concerning the Author, the Article, its contents, any graphics or images submitted by the Author and/or the ideas contained in the Article, its authorship or its sources.
6.2 The Author undertakes (jointly and severally where the Author is more than one person) to indemnify and hold harmless Frontiers against any damage suffered by Frontiers as a result of any of the above warranties being false or misleading.

7.  Promotional Materials; Links to and from Other Websites
7.1 Frontiers may publish extracts and précis of the Article and may refer to the Author in promotional materials.
7.2 Frontiers may incorporate links on its Websites and in any off-line documents to other journals and other websites, and may create and/or permit links on such other websites to the Article.

8.  Author’s Data, Data Protection
8.1 The Author’s personal data will be collected, maintained, used and may be transferred in accordance with Frontiers’ privacy policy as may be amended from time to time. The Author specifically consents to the transfer of his/her/their personal data within and outside the country of the Author’s and Frontiers’ place of domicile or business.
8.2 The Author is responsible for maintaining the accuracy of Author data and the security of his/her/their account and password; and for all activity that occurs on the Author’s account. The Author undertakes: (i) to notify Frontiers immediately of the discovery of any unauthorised use of any password or account or any other known or suspected breach of security; and (ii) to report to Frontiers immediately and use reasonable efforts to stop immediately any unauthorised activity known or suspected. The address for notification is the following: Info@frontiersin.org

9.  Governing Law and Jurisdiction
9.1 These Conditions are governed by Swiss law, without regard or reference to its provisions on choice of laws or conflicts of laws.
9.2 The Author agrees to submit any dispute or disagreement concerning the Article or arising out of or in connection with its submission, review, publication or any other aspect of the parties’ relationship concerning the Article in any way to Frontiers’ mediation process, and to follow the mediation process in good faith and to act in good faith in deciding whether to accept the result of such process.
9.3 All disputes arising out of or in connection with these Conditions which the mediation process referred to above has failed to resolve satisfactorily shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the Canton de Vaud, Switzerland.
9.4 The election of the governing law and jurisdiction will not be affected by any modification of a Party's residence, place of work or server location.
9.5 The Author consents and will consent to any application by Frontiers to stay court proceedings brought by the Author in contravention of the provisions of this Article.

10.  Miscellaneous
10.1 LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: SAVE AS STATED IN THESE CONDITIONS, THE MAXIMUM AGGREGATE LIABLITY OF FRONTIERS TO THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIMITED TO REPAYMENT OF ANY FEES PAID BY THE AUTHOR TO FRONTIERS. FRONTIERS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES, EVEN IF INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY OR LIKELIHOOD OF SUCH DAMAGES. THE PRECEDING LIMITATION AND EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY SHALL NOT APPLY TO THE EXTENT THAT APPLICABLE LAW DOES NOT PERMIT LIABILITY TO BE LIMITED OR EXCLUDED AS DESCRIBED IN THIS PARAGRAPH.
10.2 The Author may not assign its rights or any part of its rights to any third party. Frontiers may assign its rights or any part of its rights to any person or entity to whom management of the Journal and/or the Website and/or any of the relevant processes has been assigned or entrusted.
10.3 No failure of either party to seek remedy for a breach of these Conditions shall constitute a waiver of that or of any subsequent breach. No delay in enforcing these Conditions shall constitute a waiver of any breach.
10.4 If any provision of these Conditions is found to be illegal, invalid or unenforceable under applicable law, such provision shall not form any part of these Conditions and Frontiers shall seek to replace such provision which is legal, valid and enforceable and which as nearly as possible reflects the intention of the parties.

Neither party shall be liable to the other for failure to fulfil his/her/its obligations under these Conditions to the extent that such failure is due to circumstances beyond the control of that party. If such circumstances subsist for a period of more than six months, the other party may terminate the Agreement constituted by these Conditions in respect of the Article by written notice.

Please note: conditions were amended in August 2009.

On behalf of each person constituting the Author, I accept these conditions in respect of the Article I submit immediately following this acceptance. I warrant that I am expressly authorised to submit this Article and to agree to these conditions on behalf of myself and of each person constituting the Author.